Hardest sequence of notes to hit

Whistle
1

I am in the midst of practicing certain sequences of notes over and over and over and over and over because my fingers can’t be trusted to do it right when called upon, or my breath control is cruddy, or my tongue gets involved when it shouldn’t, needn’t, isn’t wanted.

Tyghre’s eyes are glazing over. The cats (please note small ‘c’) pin back their ears and stalk out of the room. One bird gets flippy (literally…he flicks his wings and gets irritable) the other is pleased as punch that I’m learning her language.

I’m not going to go into the four note patterns of the exercises I do…what I’m talking about is B-e-b-e-B…or simply b-e-b-e-b-e-b-e…I’m starting to sound like a fire truck, I swear.

What are your sticky sequences? Are you avoiding them, or practicing them to the distraction of your household. How long does it take for you to ‘get it right?’

2

Sound like a whistle problem, Tygress. I have one that doesn’t like b-e, but on most whistles that’s easy. I have trouble with combinations of c natural, a and g. Especially when octave jumps are involved. The third part of Gravel Walk is full of that bad stuff.

3

My new Hoover requires a four hole cross fingering for C nat which is taking me a long time to get used to when moving from C to low A and B. But it’s easier to move to second octave E.

4

It ain’t the whistle…its the whistlER. I can guarantee that! There is no reason on earth Abell, O’Riordan, Rose and Burke should all have issues with that jump..

The high E is the last note that I can play with my low register ‘push’, then I have to crank up the pressure to hit the higher notes. So going from the high B down to the high E not only takes fingering, but also backing off on the pressure at the right time or I get an overtone (which also appears to be a B…does this make sense?), and going in the other direction its just as hard…fingers must coordinate with increased pressure.

Its Morrison’s I’m having problems with. I think in the past I’ve been tonguing, or dropping notes, or ignoring funky sounds. I just started really working on Gravel Walk on Monday, so I’m still trying to get the basic notes and swing.

The four note patterns I alluded to in my first post all involved Cnat. My exercises involved going up and down scales, starting on each note in the sequence, so GABA GABA GABA G then ABAG ABAG ABAG A and BAGA BAGA BAGA B, AGAB AGAB AGAB A. Well, that’s easy enough, even at speed. But try ABCB BCDC and CDED…fingers start tripping over each other. Good grief.

5

My “bad sequences” seem to vary with the tune…I’ll have no trouble with a sequence in one tune and have no end of trouble with it in another. And yes…I’ll practice them over and over until they’re smooth…first just the troublesome measure, then the measure “in context” with the ones before and after it.

Redwolf

6

As everyone can tell from my posts in Tin Whistle Tunes, I am by no means a really great player or something, but what I’ve been doing here as of late is going REALLY slow to start with, and I’m liking the end results more and more.

I only learn by ear, and I’ve always just done my best to mimic ornamentations, major ‘ups and downs’ between the octaves, etc. But I have long learned that just attempting it isn’t getting me all the results I want.

I figgerred out something that works really well for me, and has taught me proper ornamentation really well. I feel like I’m cheating a bit, but hey, it works!!! :smiley:

I take a tune, put it into GoldWave, drop the speed in half, then double the pitch (so it sounds exactly the same, just slower) and play along. It’s very easy to do, and after a bit, I get my fingers to memorize it, then just start bringing it up to speed, bit by bit.

I have found by starting really slowly, and working my way up, that my breath control, tounging, fingering, and all that it implies, comes right along with it.

Anyway, whether you are used to reading music or learning by ear, it might be worth a try.

My $.02 anyway.

Take care,
John

Edit: Oh yeah, it has taken my learning curve from a couple of days up to 3-4 or more depending on how fast or complex the tune, but it is so worth the end result IMHO. :smiley:



[ This Message was edited by: McHaffie on 2003-02-26 13:25 ]

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Yeowch… my tricky ones seem to all revolve around the second octave…
From the BdgedBA on to the last BdgedgbA in Butterfly, Im tearing my hair out, and everyone around me looks like they WANT to :slight_smile:

Its that grrr grumble b that is my personal bane at the moment, and that BdgedgbA is really getting on my nerves.

8

I agree with Tyghress - its too easy to blame the whistle when the problem is most often in the whistler. No matter how often I practice a piece, I still stumble most of the time when I have to rapidly shift octaves. For example, there’s an a-D-e sequence in Garryowen that I stumble over every time - to the point where I’m afraid to even try.

9

Whenever someone mentions a Hoover whistle, I see someone playing a giant vacuum-shaped whistle. I can’t help it.

10

On 2003-02-26 14:57, GeneMayes wrote:
Whenever someone mentions a Hoover whistle, I see someone playing a giant vacuum-shaped whistle. I can’t help it.

If Walden is reading this thread, I’ll bet he can come up with something like that for us. Walden???


Sorry for the OT diversion

All the Best, Tom

11

On 2003-02-26 13:01, tyghress wrote:

So going from the high B down to the high E not only takes fingering, but also backing off on the pressure at the right time or I get an overtone (which also appears to be a B…does this make sense?)

makes perfect sense. an alternative fingering for the second octave b is the same fingering as the second octave e. you can look at the fingering chart in the “help for beginners” section to see what i’m talking about.

i have troubles going from anything high to a low d or e. my susato vsb soprano d doesn’t like those two low notes. i blow just way too hard i guess, hehe.

[ This Message was edited by: Damien on 2003-02-26 16:53 ]

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Hmm…the hardest sequence of notes to hit? I think that would be ANY sequence in a live performance that you “nailed” in the pre-concert rehearsal!

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On 2003-02-26 18:00, BrassBlower wrote:
Hmm…the hardest sequence of notes to hit? I think that would be ANY sequence in a live performance that you “nailed” in the pre-concert rehearsal!

AMEN!!!

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Ahahahah! Walden, you pegged it perfectly!
That’s great!

16

Here’s my second for the third part of Gravel Walk. That’s hard for me to get up to speed.

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I find that playing low E, then middle E, then high E, then back down through the same notes and back up again, over and over, while slurring, on 16th notes at one beat per second, is kind of tricky.

Also, an Eb to Fnat trill on a D whistle is difficult. Same goes for Bb to Eb.

I do really enjoy slurring low D to High D, and back down to low D, over and over, without hitting notes inbetween, as fast as I can, for friends and neighbors. (Not really)

JP

18

The hardest sequence for me to do at anything like normal speed is the last three measures of Gander in the Pratie Hole. That’s just a train wreck for my fingers unless I go so slowly that it doesn’t even sound like a tune.

19

I try to play ‘Lots of Drops of Brandy’ like Paddy Moloney from time to time… then my brain locks up, my fingers cramp, and I drop the whistle. :laughing:

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For some odd reason I have difficulties with what appear to be simple arpeggios - mostly when they cross octaves.
I have had many a fight with the stubborn Langstern Pony and the B part of Athol Highlanders … hmpf

Jeroen